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242. Multiethnic State, Ethnically Homogenous State and the Future of the Nation-State in the Balkans
- Author:
- Plamen Pantev
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Austrian National Defence Academy
- Abstract:
- Approaching and testing the capacity and effectiveness of the nation-states in the Balkans is a long-term research necessity for many reasons: First, despite the tendency of making the state boundaries less and less significant in the era of new information technology, global economy and new communications capabilities the nation-state will remain the key organisational unit of the international system and the features of national sovereignty will continue to dominate and influence the management toolbox of international relations and domestic politics. Hence, any form and nuance of the nation-state in the Balkans will have a decisive meaning for dealing with the political and security agenda of the region.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Ethnic Conflict, and Globalization
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe and Balkans
243. Los Balcanes: Entre el Pasado y el Presente. Una Introducción Históica a los Estudios Balcánicos
- Author:
- Slobodan Pajovic
- Publication Date:
- 02-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
- Abstract:
- This working paper deals with the complex, turbulent and contradictory history of the Balkans region. It is argued that the tragic realities confronting the region derive mainly from its asymmetric geopolitical, economic and cultural position, and its high degree of vulnerability and dependence on Western Europe and the Near East. It suggests that it is possible to study the history of the region by examining processes of both internal fragmentation and external subordination. While the paper cannot constitute a complete or systematic study of the Balkans, it presents and overview of the most salient features in the region's historical, politico-economic and cultural development. Two case studies, Yugoslavia and Kosovo, help to highlight the broader trends.
- Topic:
- Economics, Human Welfare, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Iran, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Balkans
244. Prespa Economic Task Force Report: Barriers and Incentives to Cross-Border Economic Development
- Publication Date:
- 01-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- EastWest Institute
- Abstract:
- Building upon the positive co-operation undertaken to date, mainly concerning the protection and management of the Prespa Lakes region and the Prespa Park following the trilateral Declaration by the Prime Ministers: Mr. Costas Simitis, Mr. Ljubc o Georgievski and Mr. Ilir Meta, of 2 February , 2000, and in the spirit of the joint message delivered on 29 September 2000 by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs Mr Aleksandar Dimitrov, Mr Paskal Milo and Mr George Papandreou at the Otesevo Conference a s well as the conclusions of the afore-mentioned conference (co-organised by the EastWest Institute, the Council of the Europe and the OSCE) an d the conclusions of the trilateral cross-border co-operation meeting, Korca – Kozani – Bitola, adopted in Kozani, September, 2001, EastWest Institute in close collaboration with its partners, (the Regional Enterprise Support Centre (RESC) in Bitola (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), the Centre for Inter - Balkan Cooperation (CIBC) in Kozani (Greece) and the Regional Development Agency (RDA ) in Korce (Albania), launched a process for the creation of the Prespa Economic Task Force.
- Topic:
- International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe, Greece, Balkans, Macedonia, Albania, Maryland, and Kozani
245. The European Union and the crisis in the Middle East
- Author:
- Martin Ortega
- Publication Date:
- 07-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- European Union Institute for Security Studies
- Abstract:
- In summer 2000 the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians hosted by President Clinton at Camp David raised the prospect of a peaceful resolution of the most sensitive aspects of their controversy, after almost nine years of difficult but promising exchanges following on from the Madrid Conference of November 1991. Nevertheless, Yasser Arafat's refusal to accept the terms negotiated at Camp David and the outbreak of a second intifada on 28 September 2000 led to a spiral of violence that dashed hopes for peace, leading instead to low-intensity war. Nor did the election of Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister in February 2001 make a return to the negotiating table any easier. The two parties considered that they would have more to gain from acts of violence than from negotiations and agreements. Therefore, violence in the Middle East was the continuation of diplomacy by other means. The external actors did not want, or were unable, to break this vicious circle. The most bitter regional conflict since the Second World War was thus rekindled following a phase of pacification that had appeared to be permanent. The European Union and its member states, but also the European public, viewed this negative development with great concern, because the breakdown of the peace process symbolised the end of a decade of optimism that the international community could promote peace not only in the Middle East but also in many other regions, such as southern Africa, Central America, the Balkans or South-East Asia.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Balkans, Central America, and Southeast Asia
246. Macedonia: No Room for Complacency
- Publication Date:
- 10-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Recent events require that policymakers revise substantially the conventional assessment that Macedonia is the foremost political “success story” of the Balkans. In fact, it is an underperforming post-conflict country still very much at risk, unable to tackle – operationally or politically -- its security challenges without upsetting an uncertain ethnic balance. Clear-eyed analysis of the dynamics driving unrest, from criminality and weak policing to an equally weak economy and corruption, is needed if a country that narrowly avoided war in 2001 is to secure long-term stability. Specifically, Macedonia cannot yet safely do without the presence of an international security force.
- Topic:
- Security, Government, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Eastern Europe, Balkans, and Macedonia
247. Thessaloniki And After II: The EU And Bosnia
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- Afflicted still by the physical, psychological and political wounds of war, and encumbered by the flawed structures imposed by the international community to implement peace, Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter: Bosnia) is not yet capable of plotting a strategy or undertaking the measures likely to win it membership in the European Union (EU). Yet the government announced on 10 April 2003 that its major policy goal is to join the EU in 2009, in the blind faith that the processes of European integration will themselves provide Bosnia with remedies for its wartime and post-war enfeeblement. The Thessaloniki summit meeting between the heads of state or government of the EU members and the Western Balkan states to be held on 21 June is likely to throw some cold water on their ambitions.
- Topic:
- Development and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Eastern Europe, and Balkans
248. Thessaloniki And After I: The EU's Balkan Agenda
- Publication Date:
- 06-2003
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The EU-Western Balkans Summit to be held in Thessaloniki on 21 June runs a real risk of discouraging reformers and increasing alienation in the Balkans, unless European policies towards the region are substantially enriched.
- Topic:
- Development and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Eastern Europe, and Balkans
249. Making EU Trade Agreements Work: The Role of Rules of Origin
- Author:
- Paul Brenton and Miriam Manchin
- Publication Date:
- 03-2002
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- A key element of the EU's free trade and preferential trade agreements is the extent to which they deliver improved market access and so contribute to the EUs foreign policy objectives towards developing countries and neighbouring countries in Europe, including the countries of the Balkans. Previous preferential trade schemes have been ineffective in delivering improved access to the EU market. The main reason for this is probably the very restrictive rules of origin that the EU imposes, coupled with the costs of proving consistency with these rules. If the EU wants the 'Everything but Arms' agreement and free trade agreements with countries in the Balkans to generate substantial improvements in access to the EU market for products from these countries then it will have to reconsider the current rules of origin and implement less restrictive rules backed upon by a careful safeguards policy.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Economics, Government, Human Rights, International Trade and Finance, Migration, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Balkans
250. The Schengen Challenge and its Balkan Dimensions
- Author:
- Péter Kovács
- Publication Date:
- 03-2002
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The subject of this paper is undoubtedly of paramount importance for a number of Central and East European countries. The image of a “Schengen Fortress” in statu nascendi is disappointing even for those who are enthusiastic about the accession of their countries to a unified Europe. There is a widespread fear – rational or not – that cross-border human contacts and travel possibilities from East to West will become more difficult than they were in the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The same feeling can be detected even in the Balkans, where certain countries also show symptoms of the “Schengen Fortress”.
- Topic:
- Government, Human Rights, and International Organization
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Balkans